In very general terms, there are three fundamental plans employed. You need to be agile enough to switch strategies almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of creating a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you can achieve, to lock in your competitor’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most adequate tactic at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anyplace within your 11-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your challenger rolls an early 2 and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you will be able to play six/one 6/1 eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is then in big-time trouble considering that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or more checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at least 2 of your checkers.) It needs to be used when you are decidedly behind as this action greatly improves your circumstances. The strongest places for anchor spots are near your opponent’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is essential for an effective backgame: after all, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to dismantle this straight away, while your competitor is shifting their pieces home, seeing that you don’t have any other extra pieces to move! In this case, it’s better to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position until your challenger provides you a chance to hit, so it will be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your opponent to get them in this situation!